Second Chance: Last chance
by syngrafeas
Summary: Even God forgives the first mistake. Everyone gets second chances. But not a third. Victoria, being the complete Screw Up that she is, manages to mess up her second chance.
1. Chapter 1

Victoria took almost 15 minutes to decide what to wear. She usually didn't: but then, she wasn't usually heading to a new job on probationary basis, deciding whether she was going to prison or freedom. In the end, she chose a baggy _Deadpool_ tee with more than a few _mild_ vulgarities. Just so her co-workers knew that she was the least interested in working there. She put on the tightest, most ripped pair of black pants she could find. As she was heading out, she decided to stuff in a faded grey _GAP_ sweatshirt, in case anyone was bothered by her t-shirt. Not that she cared, of course.

* * *

'Gang. Listen up. The Bureau has come up with a new program, for criminals who could be of use to the bureau. FBI is giving ex-cons their second chance. Now, it is going to be difficult to work with a criminal, but the director has asked me to take her under probationary basis.' Hotch announced to his team.

'Are you expecting for us to work with a con, with possible sociopathic, or psychopathic tendencies?' Morgan asked, disbelieving what Hotch was saying.

'Psychologists have cleared Victoria Anne-Marie Tottenham. I have talked to her myself. She was a pickpocket, burglar, and charged of manslaughter. She excels at victimology. The Bureau thinks she will be able to provide insight into why a victim was targeted. Now, I want all of you to keep a close eye on her.'

'Victoria Anne-Marie Tottenham?' JJ wondered aloud.

'If I wasn't a profiler, I would definitely say that _that_ name doesn't suit a criminal.' Emily replied.

Hotch looked at his watch. 'She should've been here by now.'

'She's late because the train timetable was changed, maybe, and she hasn't heard about it. Where is Victoria from?' Reid asked, turning the page of a book he had just borrowed from his library.

'New York.' Hotch said, not worrying, 'I see no point to wait here. Get working. She'll come.'

* * *

On the train, Victoria decided to put on her _GAP_ sweatshirt after all. She thought she would just go there, not caring what anyone thought about her. But, the look the security guard gave her was enough to axe her heart. It wasn't anger- It was... disgust. That wasn't something she got often. That guard was repulsed by her very presence in the FBI building. She imagined the people she was going to work with would be the same. _Bloody, nationalistic eagles who kick down doors. And will look at me as if I'm trash. Yeah, whatever._

She saw a skinny guy talking to a brunette, Blondie, and a black man in the bullpen. She heard him say as she neared them, '- the vampire slayer is a very feminist show. I started with _The Crown_ last week.' The brunette smirked. 'I feel that if a police procedural was based off our team, it would be even more _feministic_.' The Blondie high-fived her. She ignored them and headed to Unit Chief Hotchner's office, where she had been escorted to last time she had been here.

'Unit Chief Hotchner.' Victoria said a few seconds after she knocked on his half-open door.

Hotch looked up from a file. 'Ms. Tottenham. You're here. You're...' looking at his watch, 'almost 30 minutes late.'

Victoria scowled. 'Cut me some slack.' She muttered. 'I _did_ come.'

Hotch sighed. 'I suppose.' He went out of his office to the bullpen, with Victoria following him.


	2. Chapter 2

These people weren't her teammates. Victoria knew that. Teammates were people who looked out for each other. Like she did, taking the fall when she was arrested; she didn't hang her friends out to dry. Her friends looked out for her- Her boyfriend Connor once ripped off his shirt in Times Square after she was nearly caught. Tyron was like a brother she never had. He sent a man to the ER because he'd insulted her. Victoria stared at a tattoo on her wrist. It read- _Friends._ When joined with Martha and Lana's tattoos, it read _Friends unto death_.

'Hello. I'm Jennifer Jareau. My friends call me JJ.' Said the Blondie.

'Hi. I'm Spencer Reid.' Said the skinny guy.

'Morgan. Derek Morgan.' The black guy said mimicking Pierce Brosnan's version of Bond.

'I'm Emily.' The brunette said, sticking out her hand.

Victoria shook it and replied, 'I'm Victoria. My friends call me Vicky.'

* * *

Awkward silence. Victoria didn't have any case files to look over so she just sat there, contemplating, meditating with open eyes, occasionally staring at the others and what they were doing. 'So, Victoria, what are your interests, and hobbies?' Reid asked her.

She smirked. 'I naturally assume that you mean other than looting people off their wealth.' Pause. 'Well, I guess you could call me an avid reader.'

'What do you like to read?' he said ignoring the _looting people off their wealth_ part.

'Anything, really. But my heart lies in dystopian fiction and sci-fi.'

'So you must've read Susan Collin's Hunge-'

'I _love The Hunger Games._ I've read it millions of times.' Pause. 'Yeah, that's an exaggeration.'

'Where did you get that book?' Morgan asked, surprised. 'Somebody's purse?'

 _Bam!_ That was enough to freeze the little amount of ice Reid had managed to melt. Victoria stared at him steely-eyed, and said, 'I _borrowed_ the book from my roommate at _Columbia_. I wasn't born a thief, you see.' Then she slid up her headphones which were resting around her neck.

JJ could swear that she saw Victoria blink out a tear.

* * *

Garcia walked urgently to her boss' office; tablet and case file in hand.

'Come on up!' Prentiss said, tapping Victoria on her shoulder. 'We've got a case.'

'So?' Victoria said indifferently. _What do I care? I'm still the_ thief _here. No matter what I do or who I am underneath, I'm still a thief._ Victoria almost smiled as she remembered one of her favourite quotes: _It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me_. So, trying to define her new self, she dragged her butt off to the conference room.

'Oh, Gosh, this is my least favourite kind,' Garcia said as she switched through the _PowerPoint_ slides that Miami PD had sent her, requesting the BAU's assistance with a case. 'This UnSub, or the _Siesta killer_ as the media is calling him, has killed women and children in their homes between 1 pm to 4 pm, and has 4 kills on his list so far.'

Hotch nodded. 'Wheels up in an hour. Ms. Tottenham, do you have your go-bag? If not, HR will provide one for you temporarily.' Victoria looked at everything incredulously. Maybe this was the action that would define her; being a hero.

'I do _not_ have a go-bag, since I wasn't told that I would be requiring one. But since I do not live very far from here, I will get it instantly.' She said to Agent Hotchner. She had no doubt that if any of the other members of BAU would want to quickly get their go-bags from their home, they would get them. But Victoria was supposed to inform her supervisor of her whereabouts. _Yeah. No doubt they think that I'm gonna make the run for it._

'What should I put in the go-bag?' she asked JJ as they were going out of the conference room.

'Ughhh... well, few pairs of clothes, toiletries, and, ughh.. feminine stuff.'

'I'm sorry?'

'You know, you never know when you-'

'Oh, sorry, I get it.'

'I mean, really,' JJ laughed, 'You never know when it's _that_ week.'

'What week are you talking about?' Prentiss said, joining the conversation from behind them.

' _That_ week.'

'I see.'

* * *

'Oh gosh, it is boiling!' Victoria said in the heat of Miami. She took off her sweatshirt and tied it around her waist.

'Well, you can't exactly call it boiling. It's about 77 degrees. You would need about 135 more degrees to boil. Not to mention, that would kill you.' Reid said. Victoria stared at him.

'Is he always like this?' Ignoring him.

'Get used to it. You've got to spend 2 years with us.' Rossi said, heading to the nearest air-conditioned police cruiser. Victoria rolled her eyes. _It is true._ The terms of her not going to prison were that 1. She work with full heart and honesty for the FBI, 2. She have no contact with the people involved with her before she was arrested, 3. If after 2 years, her supervisor saw fit, she would be granted freedom, otherwise she would go to prison with 2 years cut off her sentence. Cut and dry. No exceptions. _So,_ Victoria thought, _I better get used to these idiots_.


	3. Chapter 3

6 months later

'Hello, idiots.' Victoria said, marching in the BAU bullpen.

'Hello, Victoria.' Everybody said. It was like they were repeating a mantra; that they'd repeated for quite a few months.

'Victoria.' Morgan said. 'Hotch requested your Graceful Presence in his office as soon as you came.'

Victoria looked confused. 'Did he say what it was for?' Morgan shrugged.

* * *

5 minutes later.

Victoria came out of the office beaming, with a cardboard box in her hands. 'My personal effects.' She told everyone as she put the box down with a thud. First thing, the pulled out a wallet and stuffed it in her back pocket. Then, she removed a key and put it in with her wallet. Then, she removed her phone and switched it on. 'Oh, I have a lot of money. What's new?' She muttered angrily.

'You have a lot of money?' Morgan asked, only half-joking.

'Yeah, well, my parents send me a lot of money every month. They don't care whether I'm using it or not,' she said, now waving her _American Express_ card, 'it's just _there_ every month.'

'Why's that?' Emily asked.

'Oh, I don't know. Maybe they still want me to marry that French guy. If I use the money, I'll be in their debt, and have no choice but to do what they say.' Pause. 'Oh, look,' Victoria said, ignoring the pitying looks, 'all my books came in.' She pulled paperbacks of the _Ender's game_ quartet, _Twenty thousand leagues under the sea, Journey to the centre of the Earth,_ Isaac Asimov's short stories, and Arthur. C Clarke's books.

* * *

'Director, I'm afraid there's some bad news.' Leslie Jackson told her boss, Director Mayfield, Director of FBI.

'What is it, Leslie?' John Mayfield took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Just yesterday, President announced budget cuts. I don't know how he expects us to function with so less.'

'Well, see, yesterday... a few of the FBI confidential files... were stolen.'

'What?'

'Which ones?'

'The personnel files of some undercover agents. A few of our overseas operations. This could be very embarrassing and dangerous if anyone who shouldn't know about this comes to know of it.'

'But... They were in-' John Mayfield stuttered.

'It's an inside job.' Leslie confirmed. The documents were being kept in a place only someone from the inside would know of, before being stolen.

'I may know who it is.' Director Mayfield suddenly looked up. 'Uh... the _second chance_ criminal program hired someone... Victoria Anne-Marie Tottenham?'

* * *

Several black suit, sunglass clad FBI official marched into the BAU with Director Mayfield behind them. Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner and SSA David Rossi came out of their respective cabins. 'We're looking for Victoria Anne-Marie Tottenham.' The BAU looked up from their paperwork.

Victoria turned to look at them. 'Yeah, that would be me. What can I do for-' A man stepped forward, grabbed her wrists, and snapped up handcuffs around them. 'What? I'm already arrested! What charges are you doing this on?'

Director stepped up. 'You have the rights to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.'

Victoria struggled against two agents now holding her arms to keep her still. 'Let...me...go!'

Hotch quickly walked towards Director Mayfield. 'Hey, John, what charges are you arresting her for?'

'Treason. She stole files from _the safe_ , Aaron. One would need to know the layout of the entire building for that.'

'So naturally, you take her because she used to be thief. She's an _ex_ -felon. Based on what evidence are you arresting her?' Agent Hotchner asked sharply.

John patted Hotch's arm. 'Aaron, now, we've been friends since ages, right? Why don't you cooperate with me? As soon as she can prove that she didn't do it, she's good to go.' Hotch stared at him with a clenched jaw.

'Alright.' Hotch said. Victoria gasped from behind. 'One condition: I and my team interrogate her.' John Mayfield smiled.

'You get 24 hours. And of course, everything will be done under my surveillance. Sounds good?'

The men in black suits took her to the interrogation room. 'Reid, me, and Rossi will interrogate her. Garcia, Morgan, dig up anything about her that we don't know. Emily, JJ go to her apartment and see what you find.'


	4. Chapter 4

'I didn't do anything.' Victoria said, her wrists feeling sore.

'We need your help to prove it.' Hotch said carefully. 'Now, what did you do last night?'

'Hung out at my house.'

'What did you do?'

'Saw T.V.'

'What did you see?'

'What does that matter?'

Hotch sighed. 'Victoria, I know that it is a tough time for you, but it would really help if you would just co-operate.'

'I was seeing _Sherlock_.'

Outside the reflective glass, Reid said to Rossi. 'You know, I'm pretty sure that _Sherlock_ wasn't on air last night.'

Rossi nodded towards the door. 'Tell that to Hotch.'

Reid peeked into the interrogation room. 'Hotch, _Sherlock_ wasn't on air last night.' He said tentatively.

'I had it recorded. I saw the _Reichenbach fall,_ and some other episodes,' she told, exasperated. She put her head in her hands the best she could- her wrists were rather limited due to her cuffs.

* * *

'You do your computer magic; I'll go through her desk and personal belongings.' Morgan said to Garcia. Garcia looked upset and sighed. 'What's wrong, Baby girl?' Morgan asked.

'Well, I feel guilty, looking at all of her stuff like that.'

'I know. But we need some evidence to something.'

Morgan looked her desk. It was unusually barren. Then, he went through the drawers at Victoria's desk systematically. The bottom drawer contained some stationary. Pens, notebooks, post-it notes. The middle drawer contained stuff that everyone kept: Some candies, granola bars, deodorant, and tampons. The upper drawer impressed him. Headphones: standard. Aspirin tablets and a bottle full of trazodone caught his attention.

* * *

'So, she really wants a quiet dark environment, doesn't she?' Prentiss said, observing the aluminium foil put up on Victoria's windows. She and JJ unlocked the door.

Victoria's house was dark and messy. The sofa was littered with books, magazines, newspapers, and pizza boxes. There was minimal furniture, and most of the walls were covered in paintings and posters. JJ opened the fridge. There was leftover pizza, Chinese, milk cartons, six-pack cokes, and juice boxes. 'Prentiss, come here!' JJ called from inside.

'Her bed is made.' JJ observed.

'So what?'

'Em, look at the rest of her house. Does she seem like the kind of person who makes her bed every morning?'

'Yeah. No, she doesn't.'

* * *

'What did you find?' Hotch asked Morgan. Morgan pushed forward the bottle of trazodone.

'Trazodone is an anti-depressant used for treating insomnia.' Reid said.

Hotch went back in the interrogation room. 'You're taking trazodone.'

Victoria didn't answer for a few seconds. 'Yeah.'

'Why didn't you tell us?'

'Under what obligation was I to tell you? I suffer from insomnia, so what?' Victoria said.

JJ and Prentiss joined Reid, Morgan, and Rossi. They waited for Hotch to come.

'Well, in her house, we found...' Emily pulled out covers of the files that were stolen. They had the word: _Confidential_ stamped across them.

'See; is that enough evidence, Aaron?' Director Mayfield, who was sitting quietly, interrupted.

Hotch sighed. 'Reid. Go in.'

 _Victoria looked at the photos of 'The siesta killer' victims. All four victims were of the lower middle class with working fathers. In fact, the whole neighbourhood consisted of those kinds of families. Victoria furrowed her brows. 'Agent Reid! What's the significance of_ Omega _?'She'd learnt quickly that if she ever had any questions, she should go to him._

' _Well,_ Omega _is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Why do you ask?' He said._

' _Look,' Victoria pointed at the photos. 'Each of these victims is wearing Omega watches. Not only that, but models that they definitely cannot afford. Our_ UnSub _might be putting them on.'_

' _That is some detail.' Morgan said, impressed. 'How did you notice?'_

' _Well, as a pickpocket, I can tell the economic status looking at the dressing sense and such.'_

Reid entered the interrogation room and put the empty file covers in front of Victoria.

'Oh, good, you found the files. You can let me go now.' Victoria said, pleading.

'We found these empty file covers... under your bed.'

'It must have occurred to you that I'm being framed. I have access to the building and a record. Any half-wit would know that the first suspicion would fall on me.'

'Where were you last night, Victoria?'

'I told you before-'

'Where were you last night?'

Victoria sighed. 'I was at the park. I couldn't sleep, so I went there for a walk.'

Outside, Director Mayfield's face lit up. 'See, I told you! I-' Rossi shushed him.

'Why did you lie first about it?' Reid asked, concerned.

Victoria remained silent.

'Alright.' Reid said. 'Do you have any witnesses or proof to your whereabouts?' Victoria shook her head.

Suddenly, out of the blue, she asked. 'Why are you doing this?'

Reid looked surprised. 'I'm not sure I-'

'I'm an ex-criminal. I've been an asshole the past few months. Why are you helping me?'

'Well, you have been helpful. We thought you were leaving those days behind you.'

'Aaaahhh... So you do think that I stole the files.' Reid protested against this, but he knew that Victoria was right, in his heart.

Reid said, 'Well, the evidence in this case-'

'Don't.'

'I'm sorry.'

'You have every right to think that I did it.' Her eyelids drooped slightly. 'And besides, I find no point in defending myself.' Everyone inside and outside the room were shocked. 'Till now, I thought it was OK to have a little ambition. But now...' Victoria sighed and took a deep breath. 'I expect that this program will scrapped. I'm charged of manslaughter. Pickpocketing. Burglary. I'm probably looking at life. Even if I do get out, what then?'

Reid looked at her surprised. 'You can't just lose ho-'

'I have.' Victoria sighed. 'It's all just so... useless, and... hopeless. When I get out, if I get out, what good will I be? No one in their right mind is going to give me a job. Then what? I rush back to the Tottenham manor?' Victoria bit her lip.

'I'm sorry.' Reid said quietly.

'It's not your fault.' Deep breath. 'I did this to myself. I liked those guys so much, I forgot myself. My life started going downhill since I picked that first pocket and had that first cigarette. It's all my fault. This was my second chance. Messed it up. Game's over. '

'Well, if it is any help, you helped catch 2 serial killers, 1 arsonist, and 1 rapist.' Victoria chuckled.


End file.
